Chase Equestrian at Chase Meadow Lane

08/23/2024

George H. Morris on Triplicate

08/14/2024

Get Tickets for ATL Women's Polo Series.

08/12/2024

What constitutes a circle? It’s probably the most mis understood, over done and poorly executed exercise in the mainstream horse world

A poorly done circle is a wet noodle flopping around, a disconnected body with a nose pointed onto a figure, while the hind legs flail around and the rib cage collapses.
A poorly done circle is a plywood board that someone is attempting to pound softness into, by pulling pieces and parts around

A well done circle is a masterpiece, a thing of beauty
A well connected body, straight on a curve

But the horse has to know how to turn with the shoulders, and to keep the hind legs behind them
A horse has to learn how to keep their neck center
A horse has to know how to expand the rib cage to the outside
A horse has to know how to stretch the outside of the body

That’s no small feat, and it’s quite the athletic endeavor, not to be taken lightly, and nothing to flop around on mindlessly

A circle deserves our respect, awareness, and time put in to develop it well

08/06/2024

08/02/2024

Snoop is covering dressage today…

😂😂

08/01/2024

08/01/2024

Sadly both Dr Reiner Klimke and Susan Hayes Woods are no longer with us, but this edited interview from 1995 is a pignant reminder that modern dressage started to go wrong over 20 years ago...

SUSAN’S INTERVIEW WITH DR. REINER KLIMKE AT THE AACHEN CHIO JULY 1995

Susan: I was watching you as you schooled Biotop in the indoor arena this morning, and it was wonderful. I noticed you were working him in a fat snaffle, and I wondered if you could talk about the importance of working in the snaffle for upper level horses.

Klimke: I ride at home only once a week on the double bridle.

Susan: Do you mean for most of your Grand Prix horses, or for this one especially?

Klimke: All. I want to have them very light in my hand. It is easier when they are really “through”, and they take the bit and take your hands. Then they are not afraid to come out to the double bridle.

Susan: Biotop seems to be very “out” to the bridle–there is not a lot of overflexing.

Klimke: And when he goes in extensions, the neck and frame extend too. And yet there are horses who make their extensions with overflexed necks and they score just as well…

Susan: Can you explain that?

Klimke: Well, when I tell you this, I don’t want to sound jealous, but I live for classical riding. Classical riding means that the horse must go: that is, the energy must come through and the horse reaches forward. But the judges don’t always mark accordingly. I don’t mind; I know what is right. I have been in this sport for nearly 40 years.

Susan: I also saw today that you were doing a lot of work on the basic paces, and simple transitions.

Klimke: Yes. The horse must go forward and he must be happy. If the horse is happy and he trusts you, then you can teach him. If you punish him, that is wrong.

Susan: They never forget. Is there any place for punishment in riding?

Klimke: I hate to punish a horse. It must not be. It can happen to anybody. Sometimes you lose your patience, you try to make the horse a slave. But it is not right. Sometimes you see riders blowing up, even here, with top riders. I say to myself, “Poor horse, I wouldn’t like to be in your stable.”

Susan: Why does it happen? A lot of these riders will teach and talk about riding classically, and mean to do it, but then it is different here. Is it the pressure?

Klimke: I think everybody wants to win. Perhaps they think if they make a horse tired it will be submissive. Sometimes it may work, but if you really look you can see what is wrong. Some judges don’t have a really good eye, and they judge by punishing mistakes, like too many or too few strides in a pirouette, for example.

Susan: Too much counting and not enough…

Klimke: Yes. The principle is: how is the walk, how is the trot, how is the canter, how is the acceptance of the bridle, how does the back work–all of these things. And in addition, the figures. But they deduct too much if a figure is not 100% okay. You see? If you make a pirouette and the horse really uses his hindquarters, and maybe the pirouette is a little big, you should not be given a 5.

Susan: That’s a little extreme.

Klimke: Yes. It can be at least a 6, can also be a 7, when the horse really canters classically. Even if the circle was too large, remember that you must deduct from 10. The judge must be able to see the main achievement of a horse and rider, in a movement.

Susan: This brings up another question, and that is–there are some amazing equine athletes here, and some of them get a lot of points because of that. Where are the places in the Grand Prix test where the talent can’t cover up the problems with the training?

Klimke: I look only at the way that the horse moves, in all three gaits. He must come from behind, with a swinging back. The head and neck must seek the bit. I hate it if the horse comes behind the vertical and stays there. When the horse is really “through”, you must be able to open and close the frame, and keep him reaching into the bit. And right now, in the judging, in my opinion, this doesn’t count for enough. But sooner or later, good riding will be rewarded. You must not lose your patience, you see. And don’t give up.

https://woodsdressage.com/ for the full interview and about Susan Hayes Woods

Concordia Equestrians.
Register as a Friend or Professional and help us make the world a better place to be a horse www.concordiaequestrians.org

07/29/2024

Good luck to all of the fantastic riders & horses competing at the Paris Olympics 🌍

——

We wish you the best of luck! ❤️

07/28/2024

The horses on the U.S. eventing team began their journey to France for the Paris Olympics from a farm in Pennsylvania. Here’s a closer look at their journey.

07/27/2024

Let's hear it for the grooms 🥳

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07/27/2024

07/27/2024

🤝 Château de Versailles

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04/18/2023

The 2023 ASHBA Half Saddlebred Futurity will offer an Open Weanling Futurity for all 2023 Half-Saddlebred foals that are registered with ASHBA’s Half Saddlebred Registry! All that is required is to register your Half Saddlebred and nominate by May 1, 2023.
Learn more: https://asha.net/newsItem?id=57920

Osteen Photo: Hallelujah Thunder, 2022 Half Saddlebred Futurity Winner

04/18/2023

03/06/2023

Equitation and Hunter Riders please check in for our show at The Ridge At Wellington Groves this Tuesday! USHJA Hunters & Child/Adult Hunters at 11, Taylor Harris & Ariat not before noon, all 3'3" Equitation not before 1:00, and Medal,Maclay,Talent Search not before 2:00. Ship ins Welcome, Day or weekly Stalls available.
Prizelist at www.ridgeshowjumping.com

03/06/2023

Penelope Rides Again - republished Oct 22 https://www.quillerpublishing.com/product/penelope-rides-again

Published by Horse and Rider Books in North America
https://www.horseandriderbooks.com/norman-thelwell/

03/02/2023

03/02/2023

Thelwell did Harness Racing?

Reintroduction of chariot racing into the Olympic Games 1956 (from Punch)

08/29/2022

The Ridge at Tewksbury is a full service hunter/jumper farm providing training for both horse and ri

08/26/2022

Intensity is a normal state for many humans. They talk about “Type A Personalities” all the time. Athletes are pushed hard to be more, more, more. More driven, more competitive, more successful.

Meanwhile, the horse, a grazing animal, has about a zero work ethic. The horse doesn’t prance around the pasture to “get fit.” If he does run around, the nano-second he gets sick of it, he stops.

So now we have this paradox, a driven animal (humans) wanting performance from a grazing animal (horses).

And so we drive them crazy, some of the time, by bringing human drives and needs to a species with absolutely different kinds of drives and needs. We read things like, “My horse has a great work ethic.” What that actually means is that the horse tolerates being pushed. He doesn’t push himself.

Driven humans project their needs onto all sorts of things, golf clubs, footballs, boats, skis, motorcycles, cars, planes, and, yes onto horses.

But those other recipients of those sometimes frantically desperate human needs, being inanimate, are immune to the forces that can create counter intensity. Not so the horse.

To be better riders, better trainers, better horsemen and horsewomen, maybe tone it down a notch. Or ten notches---

Too many humans make the horse anxious, then punish the horse for the anxiety which they humans created in the first place. There are lots of riders who ought to have a motorcycle instead of a horse.

08/25/2022

07/13/2022

07/05/2022